US officer killed in ambush in eastern Syria

In this file photo taken on March 24, 2019 smoke is rising behind destroyed vehicles and damaged buildings in the village of Baghouz in Syria's eastern Dayr al-Zawr province near the Iraqi border. (Photo by AFP)

A US officer has been killed in an ambush in the eastern Syrian province of Dayr al-Zawr.

The ambush, which was reportedly carried out by an unknown group, targeted vehicles of the US-led coalition, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.

Two Kurdish militants were also killed along with the American serviceman.

The body of the US officer was transported to a base run by American forces in the province of Hassakah.

There has been no claim of responsibility.

The ambush came less than a month after a US military convoy was forced to retreat from an area in Syria’s Hassakah after government forces blocked its way and groups of angry local residents, upset with its presence in the region, throw stones at the US convoy.

Syrian army soldiers stopped the American convoy, consisting of 7 armored vehicles, as it tried to make its way through the village of Kuzelia, which lies west of Tal Tamr town.